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Bearing Isolators Meeting Tough Demands!

Earl Rogalski
Marketing Manager
Garlock Klozure

an EnPro Industries company
1666 Division Street
Palmyra, NY 14522
Tel.: 315-597-3362
Fax: 866-645-7325
earl.rogalski@garlock.com
www.klozure.com | www.splitisolator.com | www.splitoilseal.com
Introduction
Dynamic sealing technology has continued to advance in recent years, changing from off-the-shelf radial lip seal commodities to high-
tech engineered products. As asset uptime and governmental requirements become more and more demanding, the need for high
quality engineered sealing solutions increases.

Seal design advances include contact lip seals and non-contact labyrinth seals. For labyrinth seals, commonly known as Bearing
Isolators, the intricate path and advanced design features are important factors to ensure consistent and reliable sealing.
Understanding all of these factors will allow the user to make intelligent seal choices that will impact equipment life, productivity, and
total maintenance costs.
Understanding labyrinth seals and available technology
Unlike elastomeric radial lip seals labyrinth seals are relatively simple in theory. In standard designs, a labyrinth seal is nothing more
than an intricate pathway with abrupt directional changes (see Figure 1). The intricate directional change creates a barrier which
prevents ingress or egress of material; application lubrication, external fluids or airborne contamination. However, new labyrinth
seals, commonly referred to as hybrid labyrinths, are becoming popular. Hybrid labyrinth seals are essentially a combination of new
sealing technologies with standard labyrinth technology. These new technologies consist of unique unitizing elements, hydrodynamic
pumping features, cellular foams and/or liquid o-ring seals. Hybrid labyrinth seals are typically chosen for technically challenging
applications when standard labyrinth technology just wont work.

Figure 1 Labyrinth bearing isolator

Figure 2 represents a hybrid labyrinth which uses a unitizing element to keep the assembly together while maintaining appropriate
internal clearances. A common misnomer is that the unitizing element creates a seal barrier, but this is just not the case. The unitizing
element simply prevents the rotor and stator from coming into contact with one another during operation, which prevents the
potentially harmful generation of metallic particulates. If contact between the rotor and stator were made during dynamic operation,
the particulates generated would then contaminate the lubrication system and eventually lead to premature bearing failure, both of
which are costly endeavors.

Figure 2 Hybrid labyrinth bearing isolator with unitizing ring
Rotor
Labyrinth Path
Stator
Rotor
Labyrinth Path
Stator
Unitizing Element
2

Figure 3 is yet another version of hybrid labyrinth seal technology. In this design, cellular foam is used in combination with standard
labyrinth and unitizing technology to prevent contamination ingress. The microcellular foam prevents ingress or airborne particulates
or fluid by trapping the material into the outer surface of the cellular material. Airborne particulates are simply trapped while liquid
contamination is held via surface tension. Although the cellular foam has limited capacity, once capacity it met, effective sealing will
still occur as it will act as a permanent barrier. Although this type of hybrid labyrinth is unique, it has been used successfully in highly
contaminated environments when other sealing technologies simply will not work.

Figure 3 Labyrinth hybrid bearing isolator with cellular foam material
What defines the level of protection?
Many bearing isolator models conform to nationally accepted standards for operation including API, IEEE and NEMA.
Understanding these standards, along with your requirements, is essential to ensure appropriate system protection.
API 610 is a standard for pumps commonly used in petroleum, heavy duty chemical and gas industry services. API standards are
published by the American Petroleum Institute body and are intended to provide fundamental standards for use by manufacturers and
buyers alike. Specific to labyrinth seals, API 610 indicates that bearing housings for rolling-element bearings must be designed to
retain lubrication while preventing contamination ingress, all without additional facilities such as air purging. Acceptable sealing
devices include replaceable labyrinth and magnetic face seals while disallowing traditional contact radial lip seals. In addition, the
materials used must be non-sparking should dynamic contact occur. The nature of this specification inherently limits the type of seal
used and the selection of such.
IEEE 841, created and maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, defines the requirements for enclosures
used in the petroleum and chemical industries. Enclosures are defined as either Totally Enclosed Fan-Cooled (TEFC) or Totally
Enclosed Non-Ventilated (TENV). Definitions are specified by ingress protection ratings as per NEMA MG 1, part 5.
NEMA, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, designates the degree of protection provided by enclosures for rotating
electrical machines. In addition, NEMA designates the test procedures used to determine if a machine meets the ingress protection
requirements. The IP rating designates two numeric identifiers for an enclosures ability to protect against ingress. These
characteristic numerals for the applicable ratings are:
IP5# The first number, 5, specifies the ability to protect the machine from dust ingress. To verify conformance, a labyrinth seal is
installed in an enclosed environment. Talcum powder, sifted through a sieve with a nominal spacing of 75um, is agitated to create
talcum suspension replicating a dusty environment. Vacuum is generated to create air flow through the seal for a minimum of two
hours. Ingress protection is determined if no accumulation of talcum occurs; no ingress of talcum through the labyrinth to the
measurement side of the test fixture.
IP#5 The second characteristic numeral of a 5 indicates a machine is protected against water jets. Conformance is verified by
installing the labyrinth seal in an enclosed environment and subjecting the seal to a water spray from all practical directions. A water
flow of 11.9 to 13.2 liters/min (3.1 to 3.5 gpm) for 3-minutes with a minimum nozzle discharge pressure of 0.3 bar (4.4 psi) is used.
IP#6 A second characteristic numeral of 6 indicates a machine is protected against heavy seas or powerful water jets. Conformance
is verified by installing the labyrinth seal in an enclosed environment and subjecting the seal to a water spray from all practical
directions. A water flow of 100 liters/min (26.4 gpm) for 3-minutes at a minimum nozzle discharge pressure of 1.0 bar (14.5 psi) is
used. For either IP55 or IP56, the water must not limit the capability of the equipment.
Case Study appropriate technology in use!
In the production of long steel products, it is often required to cool the newly rolled steel in an even and controlled method. A
common solution is to allow the steel to roll through an open air liquid cooling system on long run-out tables. As the steel rolls across
hundreds of rollers, a cooling solution is sprayed onto the steel (Figure 4). The combination of controlled cooling and properly spaced
rollers allows the steel to cool evenly and prevents physical distortion of the finished product.
Rotor
Labyrinth Path
Stator
Unitizing Element
Microcellular Foam
3


Figure 4 Run-out table

During this cooling process, power transmission systems are often exposed to airborne contamination and oftentimes corrosive
cooling solutions. The power transmission system, in this example, consisted of hundreds of rolling elements driven by variable speed
electric motors (Figure 5). To control finished product quality, the electric motors were tuned to match the speed of the cooling
steel. The electric motors were utilizing standard labyrinth seals but were failing to provide adequate ingress protection they were
failing prematurely.

Figure 5 Run-out table rolls

Once it was determined that the original equipment labyrinth seals were not providing IP55 or better, a surface mounted IP56 rated
hybrid labyrinth seal was installed on each electric motor (Figure 6). The upgrade of the original equipment labyrinth seal to an IP56
rated hybrid labyrinth seal solved the problem. Once all the electric motors were upgraded the run-out table was no longer a
production issue or causing production downtime.

Figure 6 Run-out table rolls
Summary
Understanding how labyrinth seals function is imperative to ensure the appropriate seal technology is specified. Seal selection, when
matched appropriately to the expected application and environment the equipment will be exposed to, will directly impact seal life,
productivity, and total maintenance costs. Armed with this knowledge, users are encouraged to work with seal manufacturers to
appropriately match seal technologies with application needs.
Rolls
Electric Motor Labyrinth
Electric Motor, Drive and
Labyrinth
Surface Mount Labyrinth